Fruit, Fruit and more Fruit!

Several weeks ago, our wonderful security guard Tito invited us to visit the central fruit market in Lima early in the morning and I couldn't say no to this awesome opportunity even though it required getting up at 5:30am! We never would have ventured to this massive market that is way beyond the boundaries of the usual touristy circle of Lima, but with Tito as our trusty guide and fruit enthusiast, we were able to experience a truly authentic Peruvian morning ritual. The MASSIVE market is packed floor to ceiling with fruit stands selling bulk boxes of every kind of imaginable fruit. The bananas, mangoes, pineapples, oranges, etc are packed and displayed perfectly into wooden boxes, freshly harvested from the farms all around Peru. Fruit distributors come from all around Lima to buy their daily bulk quantities of fruit. Weaving in between all the fruit sellers was definitely an adrenaline rush because it was quite possible to get run over or bumped into by the many people balancing huge boxes of fruit on their shoulders or pushing big carts. As we scurried through the rows and rows of fruit, people were hawking their fruit and bargaining. I have never seen SO MUCH delicious looking, fresh fruit in my life! There were giant baskets filled with hundreds of pineapples...and they only cost about $2 each! Once we had taken in the scene a bit, Tito helped us to buy some fruit! We bought some incredible mangoes- so perfectly fresh and juicy! We also bought peaches, strawberries, a pineapple, avocados and a papaya for Tito as a thank you present for bringing us to the market. It is amazing to live somewhere where fresh, tropical fruit is so cheap and delicious...I'm definitely going to miss it when I return to the US! I feel very grateful that my experience here has allowed me to truly get to know Peruvians and see a window into their lives that I think very few foreigners see. Unfortunately I didn't bring a camera with me to the market, but one of my friends did so I'm going to try to get some pictures from her when she returns from her travels.